Joe Pantoliano Reflects on Working with Director Chris Columbus

Percy Jackson and the Olympians has found new life on Disney+. The entertainment powerhouse unveiled a serialized reboot of Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels in December 2023. This new series chronicles the events of the first installment in the Percy Jackson pentalogy, The Lightning Thief. This marks the second attempt to bring The Lightning Thief to life in a live-action format, following 20th Century Fox’s 2010 production, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Logan Lerman starred as the titular demigod in the earlier adaptation, which featured a notable supporting cast including Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Jake Abel, Steve Coogan, and Rosario Dawson.

Among this ensemble was veteran actor Joe Pantoliano, known for his roles in Bad Boys. Pantoliano portrayed Percy’s step-father, Gabe Ugliano, in the 2010 film. In a conversation with ComicBook, celebrating the home media release of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Pantoliano shared his reflections on his experience with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. One of the highlights for him was working with director Chris Columbus.

“I just was so happy to be able [to do it],” Pantoliano remarked. “Chris Columbus asked me to come on the film. Chris wrote the Goonies, and so to be able to work with him and to be able to be directed by him, it became like a full circle. I just remember having such a good time with him.”

In the Disney+ series, Timm Sharp took over the role of Gabe Ugliano. Sharp, known for his role in M3GAN 2.0, portrayed Gabe in four episodes of Percy Jackson Season 1. The streaming series aimed to be a closer adaptation of The Lightning Thief compared to the theatrical release, resulting in an enhanced role for Gabe.

“They did something that I’ve never had done to me on this show, where they put me in this chamber with all of these cameras to do these 3D renderings of my entire body,” Sharp explained when discussing the prophecy scene in Percy Jackson Season 1. “I had to do all these different facial expressions for that scene so I could come out of the oracle’s mouth. Then, on set that day, I was actually there doing it.”

Currently, Joe Pantoliano can be seen in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, available on home media. Meanwhile, Percy Jackson Season 2 is in production and is scheduled to stream in 2025.

Source: ComicBook